The afternoon session featured such groups as Jedi Mind Tricks and Supernatural to keep the fans going, but as the skies started turning gray and cold, the groups heated things up. Queens rapper Pharoahe Monch got the fans going with his 30-minute set as the New York hip-hop scene almost completely dominated things. Playing tracks such as the title cut from his new Desire album and “Let’s Go,” the rapper was the first one to get the clouds of smoke going throughout the crowd. Monch had them in the palm of his hand by the time he got to his debut 1999 single “Simon Says.”

Between the break for Monch and Talib Kweli, a fierce storm came through and everyone seated on the lawn was moved to the pavilion for safety purposes. But as the introduction for Kweli stated “The Show Must Go On,” and the Brooklyn rapper showed he had the most loyal fanbase of the day for his 40-minute set. The critically acclaimed rapper is on a bit of a hot streak as of late, with his Eardrum album debuting at #2 on the Billboard charts this past week. He touched on songs like “I Try” and the set closer “Get By,” which features a frequent collaborator in Kanye West. This was Kweli’s time to shine, and he took full advantage of it.

Nas hit the stage next, trimming the fat out of his 45-minute set. The Queensbridge rapper kept with his “One Man, One Mic” scheme, as he took on the crowd alone and stole the show. Starting with the new track “Hip Hop Is Dead,” the crowd showed their love from the first moment. He teased the crowd with the Jay-Z dis track “Ether” before playing with them and doing his new song featuring Jay-Z “Black Republican.” Snippets of cuts like “If I Ruled The World” and the track that may or may not rip on Diddy, “Hate Me Now.” Nas controlled the stage with a cool precision and left his best song for last, “Made You Look.” Nas didn’t need any longer, and left the stage the champ of the evening.

On the other hand, headliners Wu-Tang Clan didn’t seize the opportunity after Nas. Waiting almost an hour between groups, the 8 member collaboration seemed off on this evening. The always energetic Method Man played the group’s cheerleader, and RZA came off as strong as ever. But most of the other members just hung back on most of the songs, while the group’s microphones sounds very muddled. The early part of the set was for the fans, as songs like “Bring The Ruckus” and the hip-hop classic “C.R.E.A.M.” got their just due. The group did a tribute to fallen rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard, as expected. But you got the feeling that even with the long soundcheck, the group and their backing band just didn’t have their stuff together on this evening.